Game for simulating tactics of the sport of curling



Aug. 22, J. F. TAYLOR GAME FOR SIMULATING TACTICS OF THE SPORT OFCURLING Filed June 12, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JAMES FREDERICKTAYLOR poien? ogeni Aug. 22, 1967 I J. F. TAYLOR GAME FOR SIMULATINGTACTICS OF THE SPORT OF CURLING Filed June 12, 1964 -2 Sheets-Sheet 1-;

PRECEDENCE LIST OUT-TURN INTURN 9 4 fi-i 5 r 5 g FIG. 4 I5 n IO I5 I8 8I6 I3 l6 6 l3 3 38\\ 39 TAKE-OUT DRAW sLow ICE TAKE POSITION FARTHESTFROM CENTER BUT IN PLAY, ON SIDE YOU CALLED.

BEAUTIFUL DRAW SHOT, PLACE STONE'IN THE POSITION OF YOUR CHOICE ON SIDEYOU CALLED.

, LFQ LL INVENTOR JAMES FREDERICK TAYLOR puteni cg eni United StatesPatent Ofilice 3,337,220 Patented Aug. 22, 1967 GAME FOR SIMULATINGTACTICS OF THE SPORT OF CURLING James Frederick Taylor, Montreal,Quebec, Canada, as-

signor to Creative Marketing Incorporated, Montreal, Quebec, CanadaFiled June 12, 1964, Ser. No. 374,609 3 Claims. (Cl. 273-135) Thepresent invention is concerned with apparatus designed to be manipulatedduring the playing of a game of chance for exercise of strategic skill,in simulation of the tactics applied to the ice sport known as curling.

The apparatus comprises an operable combination of a game board having ascoring area or house simulating the area marked by concentric circlesand cross lines on a curling ice sheet; a plurality of substitutablescoring areas for superimposition on said house each marked withdifferent patterns of numerically identified possible stone positions;gaming or playing pieces such as miniature replicas of curling stones;chance position-determining devices; chance-determining means forselecting among instructions favorable and unfavorable to play; and ameasuring guide for use in counting up a score. In addition variousancillary devices may be provided such as a conventional score board andend indicators.

While the positioning of stones is determined by chance means, such as aplurality of dice, the player is provided, according to the rules ofplay, with the choice of placing guard stones ahead of any of his rocks,upon announcing his intention, and successfully rolling the number of arock on the sheet. By using chance position-determining means whichprovide greater inherent probabilities for rolling certain numbers thanothers, the player may gain advantage by tactical selections shrewdlymade in view of the situation on the playing board, with the result thatthe game is found to simulate to a keenly satisfying degree tacticalchoices resembling those facing a skip in the sport of ice curling. I

The apparatus and the game which is played with it are described moreparticularly hereinafter in the following specification and by theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a game board representing a curling ice sheethaving numbered stone positions in a SCOIlng area;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse section through an alternative game boardhaving a pocket but otherwise similar to FIGURE 1, the section beingtaken along line 2-2 thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a pair of substitutable ice sheets markedwith randomly placed indicia designating positions of a delivered stone;

FIGURE 4 is a side view in elevation of a gaming piece in simulation ofa curling stone;

FIGURE 5 is a table of precedence of positions for measurement incounting up a score for an end;

FIGURE 6 is an illustration in plan of favorable and unfavorableinstruction cards, selected by chance; and,

. FIGURE 7 is an overhead view of one form of chancedetermining die forindicating card selection and other instructions for guiding play.

The game board indicated generally at 19 in FIGURE 1 bears markingscomprising a system of concentric circles 21, 22, 23 and 24 respectivelyrepresenting, to some suitable scale, the twelve-foot, eight-foot,four-foot and onefoot diameter rings of the house marked at an end of anice sheet as prescribed in the ice sport of curling.

Left and right side lines 25 and 26, the hog score 27, and the backscore 28 are marked in their appropriate positions on the board surface20 relatively to the circles;

vin addition the area between the hog score and the back score is markedby a center line 29 parallel with the side lines, and by a transverseline or sweeping score 30 at right angles thereto, intersecting thecenter line at the center of the ring 24. The area designated A to theleft of the center line 29, as viewed in the direction from the hogscore to the back score, is referred to herein as the out-turn areawhile the area B to the right is designated as the in-turn area. Thesignificance of these designations lies in the fact that a player on acurling ice sheet, by deliberately imparting anticlockwise or clockwiserotations to a stone as it is delivered, may thereby cause it to veerrespectively toward the left or right along a curving track and so tocontrol its position when delivered with respect to the center line.

The game board 19 may comprise a single piece of card or board materialof suitable stiffness having a smooth and durable upper surface 20suitably coloured to simulate a curling ice sheet on which, in additionto the house and reference lines, there are placed a complete series ofsixteen randomly-placed numbers 3 to 18 inclusive, in each of areas Aand B. The numbers designate all the possible positions in and aroundthe house at which a played stone may be set, i.e. these are scoringpositions which when selected instruct a player to occupy the positionby one of his pieces. The selection is indicated by casting three dicecubes and summing the numerical values of their upturned faces (notshown). There may of course be any larger number of positions as may bedesired, and other chance means than dice may be provided to selectamong them by chance, the foregoing description being intended to beillustrative of one embodimentonly. There should however not be such alarge number of positions that the possibility of players selecting thesame position, and thereby removing any stone previously set thereon, istoo low.

The random position of a particular number of the progression orsequence in out-turn area A is different from the position of thatnumber in in-turn area B. The majority of the scoring positions liewithin the outer circle 21.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, an alternative form of game board is shown intransverse cross section, comprising the base 31 and a thinnertransparent or translucent cover sheet 32 aflixed to the base along itsside margins 33, providing a pocket or channel 34 open at its ends forreceiving any one of a plurality of interchangeable number-carryinghouse sheets 35. There may be as many sheets provided as are needed tolend variety and interest to the game, each one differing from all theothers in the pattern of its numbers.

Each sheet 35, 35' as shown in plan in FIGURE 3 bears the markings andscore lines representing a curling ice sheet. Alternatively, themarkings may be permanently placed either on the under or upper side ofthe cover sheet 32 to provide registration marks for guidance inpositioning an inserted sheet. The board may also be elongated toprovide two opposed ends rather than the single end in FIGURES 1 and 3,for a closer similarity with a curling ice sheet.

The positions of the numbers identifying stone scoring positions arespaced so that the closest pair on any ice sheet lie apart by a distanceroughly equal to the diameter of circle 24, which surrounds the button,i.e., the center ring of the house. The gaming piece 36 shown in FIG-URE 4 is opaque and preferably has a diameter just slightly less thanthe button diameter, i.e., it should be scaled according to the rules ofthe sport of curling. With a game piece is centered thereon. Suitablycolored handles 37 provide easy identification.

In the sport of curling the scoring of an end, when each player ofopposing teams has delivered his quota of stones, involves inspection ofrelative stone positions, and, where necessary, calling on the umpire tomake a measurement. The number of rocks of one team which lie nearer thecenter than any stone of the opposing side is the score counted for thatteam. In the present game the relative radial distances of each numberon a particular sheet such as 35 or 35' are predetermined, so thatmeasurement to ascertain which stone of a pair seemingly equally distantfrom center is in fact nearer is simply effected by reference to atable. Such a table, showing only the precedence order for all stonepositions on sheet 35 of FIGURE 3, is shown by FIGURE 5. This tablelists in descending order the precedence of the number positions of bothareas A and B. For example, the number appears just outside the circle23 of this sheet in both area A and area B and the table advises thatthe 5 in area B is closer to the center. Similarly, a stone on 15 inarea A lies closer to the center than a stone 14 also located in area A,which fact could not be positively established by visual comparison andpersonal judgment.

In FIGURE 6 the two chance-determining cards 38 and 39 representunfavorable and favorable instructions that may be designated byoperating a chance device such as a die or wheel which selects one orthe other of a pair of card stacks. All cards in the stack with card 38adversely modify the number position on which a stone would be set bycasting the position determining dice, while those stacked with card 39are beneficial to the player. Typical unfavorable instructions mightinclude the following:

Swept stone right through the house;

Sand on the ice ruined your shot, remove stone;

Burnt rock, was touched by your lead: remove;

Hack was slippery, shot was wide of broom: remove; Stone did not crossthe hog score: remove.

Typical favorable instructions might include:

Cover out-tum position 7 on your next shot;

Place a guard in position of your choice on next shot; Replace nearestcompetitive stone by your own; This can break a tie end for you.

As many cards may be provided in each stack as may be desired, tosimulate all the accidents of mischance and good fortune experienced inactual curling play. Cards grouped with card 38 are labelled TAKE-OUTwhile those grouped with card 39 are labelled DRAW, in simulationrespectively of forfeited or ineffective deliveries and of plays whichdeliver a rock to potentially scoring positions.

In addition to the spoiling of a shot or its fortuitous success, as maybe indicated by the chance-determining cards in simulation ofcircumstances of ice surface and the inconsistencies of player delivery,many other probabilities affecting the play must be recognized. Thesport recognizes the possibility that when a player has sent a stonedown the ice, its course and distance may be altered as permitted by therules of the play, through the sweepers efforts. The players team maysweep while the stone is sliding up to the sweeping score, andthereafter the opposing team may sweep to try to clear the rock throughthe house. The sweeping may take the stone right through, or it may benot sufliciently brisk to carry the stone over the hog score, and thestone then must be removed. These and other possibilities are allowedfor by providing a chance-determining die having a plurality of faces,on which one face at least exposes the instructions too light while atleast one other exposes the instructions too heavy. Other faces provideguidance in the selection from the favorable or from the unfavorablechance card groups.

There are also possibilities that sweepers efforts either Choose drawcard; Choose take-out" card; Too light: remove;

Too heavy: remove; Sweep closer to center; Sweep away from center.

By the adoption of a die body with a suflicient number of faces theforegoing indications may be interspersed with blanks, or still othersadded, or some may be repeated.

The Sweep Closer to Center indication would, for example, give a playercurling on the sheet 35 who has rolled the number 12 on thenumber-determining dice, and who has chosen to play an in-turn shot, theright to set his stone instead on the position 3. Had he however beeninstructed to Sweep Away From Center he would be obliged to move tonumber 9 position.

The very lucky delivery known as*on the button, viz. delivery of a stoneinto circle 24, may occur in the sport, and may be simulated in thepresent game by the fortuitous occurrence that like numbered faces turnup on each of several dice used for chance position-determining.Assuming that three dice are cast this occurrence may statistically beexpected once for every 216 throws, and gives the player the right toset his stone in the center of the house. The chance-determining means,such as die 40, may however deny this good fortune to the player. If thelatter die has several blank faces the probability that the player willachieve such lucky play may be made more nearly the same as thecounterpart occurrence in the sport.

Should a player set his stone, as a result of the position determinationselected, into the position adjacent the button, and thechance-determining die turns up the Sweep Closer indication, the playerthen will set his stone on the button.

All of the rules for the sport of curling with regard to teamorganization, sequence of play, length of game, and courtesies toopposing players, are applicable and indeed necessary in the presentgame, which While presenting no opportunity for physical skills,nevertheless offers mental challenges and opportunities for conductingteam play in accordance with those precepts by which skilled playerswould be guided in the sport of curling. In general, teams comprise upto four players to a side and an end consists in each player deliveringtwo stones alternately with delivery by a corresponding player of theopposing team, until all eight stones have been delivered, the scoringfor each end being recorded according to the rules already referred to.In game apparatus as herein described eight stones compete for positionamong sixteen numerically marked shot positions, thereby assuring thatthe simulation of hitting a stone and removing it from the house willarise frequently, through the rolling of dice by a player and countingthe same number as that on which a stone rests.

It is a tactical decision at each play for the player to choose hisfield of play, that is, to decide for either an in-turn or an out-turndelivery, and so to predetermine the area where his stone will be set,should adverse chance not render his shot futile. Such choice willrequire particularly keen study of the numbers covered by stones of eachteam in playing the last three or four stones of the end not onlybecause play into an area occupied wholly or mainly by opposing stonesoffers the possibility of taking out an opponents stone, but because theprobability of rolling certain numbers is greater than the probabilityof rolling others. Those skilled in the art of dice games willappreciate that scoring a 3 or an 18 by casting three six-sided dicetogether is a least probable occurrence, while the scoring of numbersintermediate the number sequence is most likely. Consequently choosingto play into an area in which a stone of ones own side lies near tocenter on less probable dice totals than the numbers of stone positionsoccupied by opposing team stones may be tactically the better choice.

In addition to the foregoing tactical considerations a player may seekto protect a Well placed shot by announcing beforehand his intention toplace a guard ahead of the stone, or in terms of the game, to repeat thedice throw by which the stone Was placed; in such circumstance, asuccessful roll does not take out his own stone but places the guard.Should an opposing player make the same throw, only the guard isremoved.

The game offers exercise in alertness and powers of observation, as maybe understood from the following example. Assuming that several stoneslie on the scoring areas, a player may roll the dice total 11, havingchosen the in-turn side. Should none of the exposed numbers be 11, theplayers will realize that the position is covered by someones stone. Theplayer must however place his shot as though it had struck and ejectedthe covering stone, or else be penalized by forfeiting his play. If theplayer removes the correct covering stone he may set his own in itsplace; but if through inattention he is led to uncover some numberposition not 11, and move an opponents stone, the latter must be resetand the players shot is wasted. If the stone lifted from the sheet is ofthe players own side and the number uncovered is not 11, the liftedstone and the players stone are both removed from the sheet.

While the foregoing description has particularly described certainphysical forms of game apparatus operably associated with each other insimulation of conventional items used in the sport of ice curling, it isto be understood that the described embodiments are proposed by way ofexample and illustration only, and that numerous other constructions andarrangements may be fully equivalent to these while essentiallyretaining the same concepts and substance of my invention. I thereforeclaim as my invention those combinations as are fairly embraced withinthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of a game board and cooperative gaming pieces forsimulating tactical disposition of curling stones in the ice sport ofcurling, said board having at least one end area marked with a set ofconcentric circles including a center button circle in scalerepresentation of the scoring circles of a house on a curling ice sheet,a center line bisecting said area and passing through the center of saidset of circles, a plurality of numerical markings designating playingpositions dispersed at random within and Without said house, saidnumerical markings comprising an arithmetical consecutive number seriesand being duplicated on each side of said center line to provide In-Turnand Out-Turn fields of play for positioning gaming pieces, the minimumspacing of said numbers in each said field of play being not less thanthe diameter of said button, said gaming pieces being opaque and havingcircular plan form and a diameter equal to said button diameter, and thesize of said numbers being no greater than that of the base of thegaming piece whereby a gaming piece centered on a numbered playingposition in a field of play obscures the number of that positionwithoutinterfering with the centering of a gaming piece on an adjacent number.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said board comprises arectangular base support member having a contiguous transparent sheetcover bearing said house markings and said center line, said cover beingaffixed to said support member along its side margins and being open atits ends, said board further comprising a rectangular insert sheet whichis removably insertable between said support member and said cover, saidinsert sheet bearing all of said numerical markings and beingregistrable with reference to the indicia on said cover.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2 wherein said number seriescomprises the group 3 to 18 inclusive.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,525,023 2/ 1925 Brown 273-134 X2,557,583 6/1951 Vitale 273-134 2,900,189 8/ 1959 Howlett 273-136 XFOREIGN PATENTS 495,506 8/ 1953 Canada.

918,248 10/ 1946 France. 1,134,934 12/1956 France.

290,020 7/1953 Switzerland.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

1. THE COMBINATION OF A GAME BOARD AND COOPERATIVE GAMING PIECES FORSIMULATING TACTICAL DISPOSITION OF CURLING STONES IN THE ICE SPORT OFCURLING, SAID BOARD HAVING AT LEAST ONE END AREA MARKED WITH A SET OFCONCENTRIC CIRCLES INCLUDING A CENTER "BUTTON" CIRCLE IN SCALEREPRESENTATION OF THE SCORING CIRCLES OF A "HOUSE" ON A CURLING ICESHEET, A CENTER LINE BISECTING SAID AREA AND PASSING THROUGH THE CENTEROF SAID SET OF CIRCLES, A PLURALITY OF NUMERICAL MARKINGS DESIGNINGPLAYING POSITIONS DISPERSED AT RANDOM WITHIN AND WITHOUT SAID "HOUSE,"SAID NUMERICAL MARKINGS COMPRISING AN ARITHMETICAL CONSECUTIVE NUMBERSERIES AND BEING DUPLICATED ON EACH SIDE OF SAID CENTER LINE TO PROVIDE"IN-TURN" AND "OUT-TURN" FIELDS OF PLAY FOR POSITIONING GAMING PIECES,THE MINUMUM SPACING OF SAID NUMBERS IN EACH SAID FIELD OF PLAY BEING NOTLESS THAN THE DIAMETER OF SAID "BUTTON", SAID GAMING PIECES BEING OPAQUEAND HAVING CIRCULAR PLAN FORM AND A DIAMETER EQUAL TO SAID "BUTTON"DIAMETER, AND THE SIZE OF SAID NUMBERS BEING NO GREATER THAN THAT OF THEBASE OF THE GAMING PIECE WHEREBY A GAMING PIECE CENTERED ON A NUMBEREDPLAYING POSITION IN A FIELD OF PLAY OBSCURES THE NUMBER OF THAT POSITIONWITHOUT INTERFERING WITH THE CENTERING OF A GAMING PIECE ON AN ADJACENTNUMBER.